


And Tomorrow Too (soba ni iru)

by explicitones



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Canon Rewrite, F/M, Female Uzumaki Naruto, Fix-It of Sorts, Introspection, M/M, Post-Fourth Shinobi War, Romance, but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:28:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23764585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/explicitones/pseuds/explicitones
Summary: He accepts his old forehead protector from Naruto without protest, a question burning on his lips,you kept it all this time, but Naruto’s smile is confident and reassuring, and he doesn't ask.A re-telling of the events leading up to Naruto's inauguration ceremony.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 5
Kudos: 148





	And Tomorrow Too (soba ni iru)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the quarantine, I've managed to finish binge-watching all of Naruto, and had some thoughts about the ending. While I'm fine with endgame NaruHina, I can't help but wonder--and I'm sure I'm not the only one--what the outcome/pairings would've looked like had Naruto been female.
> 
> The following is an exploration of (our ever-popular pairing) SasuNaruSasu post-fourth-Shinobi-war. Albeit, I have strong opinions about Sasuke--and they're not nice (let's face it, he was a massive dick for the better part of the series)--I still think these two had the most potential in terms of character/relationship development out of the major players. 
> 
> Honestly you could easily swap out the _she/her/hers_ pronouns for _he/him/his_ and it'd still make sense. But here's me, trying to prove a point.
> 
> Enjoy and stay safe out there~

**i.**

She’s half unconscious—or is that half-conscious—bleary-eyed dreaming of Team 7, genin days. Precious moments filled with Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi sensei—when they were half her world alongside Iruka-sensei and Jii-chan—going on countless C and D-rank missions just trying to prove her worth. She only saw him as a rival then, a harrowed flame burrowed so deep in her heart she mistook it for jealousy. Jealousy at how _easy_ it was for him—the boy who was loved and adored by his peers, seen as a formidable opponent and worthy ally—when hardly anyone spared Naruto a glance or gave an ounce of attention she so craved. Now, older, stronger, she knows better. 

Sasuke is here beside her, bleeding out from one arm in perfect harmony, mirroring her every breath. _Why now,_ she thinks, when he’s been her biggest foil this entire time, walking parallel paths. He’s here beside her, bleeding out while _she’s_ bleeding out and they’ve already knocked fists, glimpsed their future, seen their deaths and _peace_ just beyond the horizon. She’s spent the better part of her life ignoring things like destiny and fate, but in this moment she wonders if there was any other possibility. Could they have avoided this fight between talks of change and revolution, could she have brought him back sooner? Or has it always been preordained this way—at the brink of life and death, overcome with memories both fond and painful, an inseperable bond between rivals-best friends-lovers.

 _Usuratonkachi,_ he says, playfully exasperated, only moments after he’s acknowledged her, and it’s so undeniably Sasuke it makes her breath catch. Naruto doesn’t even register she’s laughing until Sasuke is too, a warm, solid presence beside her. 

**ii.**

He’s leaving again but this time it’s different—he’s going on a journey to atone for his sins, learn more about what it means to be a shinobi, to protect the ones that are precious to him. There’s hope and anticipation, and a promise between their last exchanging of fists. He accepts his old forehead protector from Naruto without protest, a question burning on his lips, _you kept it all this time,_ but Naruto’s smile is confident and reassuring, and he doesn't ask. 

He lets his hand linger, feeling the warmth of her hand beneath his, through the metal of the hitai-ate. Emotions from when he was thirteen come surging back; the same conflicting feelings that nearly broke his drive to leave, buried beneath, a compelling reason to stay.

She says _when_ , with a look of determination and bright belief in her eyes, _when you come back, we’ll have our real fight_. She doesn’t say, _When you come back, we’ll pick up where we left off_ , but Sasuke knows she means it with every fiber of her being. 

**iii.**

Two years come and go with barely a blink of an eye. Naruto trains and studies and goes on routine missions. It’s a kind of calm she’s unaccustomed to, after all that’s come to pass—war and bloodshed, and too much loss. Peace is a little unsettling. 

Sometimes she meets Tsunade baa-chan at Ero-sennin’s gravestone; the flowers are always fresh and they share sips of warm sake straight from the bottle. Other days she accompanies Hinata to see Neji, and they chat and talk about life as if he were there all along. She loses track of time in these moments, conversing with the dead. It’s one of her biggest regrets, not being able to protect them. 

Still, her world is a little bigger now, heart brimming with love for everyone in this village and beyond it. Kurama is settled, a warm, comforting presence inside her, ever-present in her consciousness. She will always remember Tou-chan and Kaa-chan, and the sacrifices they made to protect her—that source of love has only grown, made her resilient and fierce. 

These days it feels like all she’s been doing is preparing. The title of Shichidaime Hokage is still a ways off but everyone has been eager to support her. Kakashi-sensei and Shikamaru have been prominent forces, leading by example, and the rest of her peers, mentors, and the villagers have given nothing but encouragement. Her dream feels so within reach, it’s terrifying. 

Sasuke returns on the annual eve of his departure. His hair has grown out and his face is hardened from traveling, but he is Sasuke all the same. 

_Welcome home_ , she thinks as he extends his good hand to her in greeting. She takes it tentatively, and then without warning tugs him into an embrace. He is warm and solid in her arms, and she feels it immediately, that unwavering calm behind growing acceptance. “Welcome home,” she says out loud, “It’s so good to see you.”

**iv.**

There are days when Naruto reminds him of Itachi, in the way they had shared a connection and how his brother had entrusted her to bring Sasuke back, as if knowing all along that she would succeed. Itachi’s words and Naruto’s memory of them are burned into his mind, prompting how wrong he’d been in his desperate attempt to achieve peace. But Itachi had been understanding, and his final words are what’s seared into Sasuke’s memory, _I will always love you_. In that way, Naruto and Itachi are very similar—their undying dedication to Sasuke in all his errors, mistakes and choices. 

He doesn’t mean to assume Naruto’s feelings for him, but all the same there is something definitive in the way she looks at him, with pride, sadness, relief and joy all rolled into one. It’s not a foreign look, Sasuke is well-attuned to passionate gazes, having worked with both Sakura and Karin. Surely the gaze is familiar, but with _Naruto_ it’s different—Naruto who has been gazing at him this whole time and he didn’t know it because he had his back turned. 

It’s this look that convinces him to stay the second time around. After all, his defenses and talk of revolution had been beaten out of him that day at the Valley of the End. And he had traveled from country to country, continent to continent in search of something that was always going to be here, in Konoha.

Here, Naruto is beside him, brows furrowed in concentration while poring over some historical text. She’s studying begrudgingly in preparation for her upcoming exams, and Sasuke watches curiously, in awe by how she’s grown. 

Old grudges and distrust give way to acceptance. The village is recovering and the darker reality is there are less of them to remember his betrayal—civilians and the remaining war heroes who lived to tell the tale. Sasuke is among them, and the story goes, he and Naruto defeated Madara, Kaguya, and freed the world of the Infinite Tsukuyomi. His sins are swept beneath the rug, forgotten in favor of peace and the role he played towards achieving it. And if anyone challenges that story, he imagines they’ll get an earful from Naruto. 

“Did you say something?” Naruto asks, looking up and blinking owlishly at him. 

He shakes his head, a smile tugging at his lips, “You’ve been on the same page for the last ten minutes, dobe.”

“Shut up, teme!”

**v.**

Sasuke kisses like he spars—all calculated movement and pointed heat. He’s still the only person Naruto has ever kissed. Between missions and war and trying to reconcile with an angry (to say the least) bijuu, there was never any time. She learns later that it was the same for him, and how he had quietly resigned himself to a life without bonds or family, obsessed with severing all ties. They’re easing into their thirties now and all that loneliness and self-inflicted pain seems silly, insignificant in hindsight. 

Sasuke kisses her awake in the early mornings of autumn, sometimes chaste, sometimes yearning, trailing a warm path across her skin. He kisses her on evening walks crossing the bridge to town, shaded in neon lights and a purple sky. He kisses her beneath the weathered branches of her favorite tree, fingers softly tangling in her hair. In the wake of her inauguration ceremony, he presses a soft kiss to her cheek and it feels like pride. 

Even without the physical aspects of their relationship, Naruto knows they share a deep connection. Perhaps in an alternate reality they have a different dynamic, but she’s certain they would still be Naruto and Sasuke—bonded through bloodshed and a fierce drive to protect. 

There are days and weeks when he is gone from the village, and Naruto is too busy to notice, buried in mountains of paperwork. Sometimes it feels like they’re chasing the precious moments in between, where things like politics and global affairs don’t exist. 

There will always be more summits, more negotiations, new adversaries with strong ideals and convictions. Insurmountable in their lifetime, perhaps, but with Sasuke here, by her side, it feels like they can do anything. 


End file.
